This invention relates to missile launch tube closures which must be replaced after every missile firing, useful in submarines, and particularly to hold-down devices for said launch tube closures.
Known submarine launch tube closures use many bracket and jackscrew assemblies which are bolted to the mount tube as hold down devices. These submergible assemblies may use as many as 24 hold-down bolts and must all be removed and reinstalled when a shatterable closure is replaced after a missile firing. All jackscrews must be torqued in a specified sequence, usually several times. This procedure is time consuming, and even after the jackscrews are torqued the torque values vary drastically, resulting in an undesirable misbalance of forces.
It has been suggested that a clamp ring be applied to the flat end flange of the shatterable closure. A problem associated with this suggested procedure is that there is a tendency for the closure flange to pull out from under the clamp ring.
The present invention overcomes the foregoing disadvantages and problems by providing a new, improved and simplified technique for clamping a shatterable type of end closure to a launch tube by the use of a ring which performs more efficiently the function of the hold-down bolts of the prior devices.
An object of the present invention is to provide a hold-down device for a missile launch tube closure which is thinner, lighter in weight, more flexible and much easier to install than known types of hold-down devices.
Another object is to obtain an uninterrupted and uniform clamping force or uniform load distribution around the entire closure clamping flange of the end closure of a missile launch tube without danger of the closure flange pulling out from under the hold-down device when the end closure is pressurized from below.
Other objects and advantages will appear from a reading of the following description.